


Begrudging Affections

by JayseHasNoGrace



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Alien Invasion, Bottom Jason Todd, Bottoming from the Top, Boys In Love, Caring Dick Grayson, Cook Jason Todd, Cooking, Couch Cuddles, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dick Grayson Can't Cook, Dramatic Dick Grayson, Dramatic Jason Todd, Eventual Smut, First Kiss, First Time, Flirty Dick Grayson, Flirty Jason Todd, Fluff, Good Friend Wally West, Humor, Hurt Dick Grayson, Hurt Jason Todd, Jason Todd Loves Chili Dogs, M/M, Making Out, Pole Dancing, Power Bottom Dick Grayson, Riding, Romantic Comedy, Sleepy Cuddles, Stitches, Switching, Top Dick Grayson, Top Jason Todd, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, some cool side effects from the Lazarus Pit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:41:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 14,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27582856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayseHasNoGrace/pseuds/JayseHasNoGrace
Summary: Dick gets shot, and somehow love comes tumbling.A JayDick romantic comedy ficlet.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd
Comments: 151
Kudos: 496





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First things first: This fic was inspired by this lovely, lovely [art](https://pentapoda.tumblr.com/post/169329907488) by pentapoda on Tumblr!
> 
> Secondly, Dick is based in Gotham instead of Blüdhaven for plot convenience purposes. It's a rom-com, it's not that serious!
> 
> Also to any of you who read SOF: this could not be further from that. Like I've said, this is 100% a ridiculous, lighthearted rom-com with a few dashes of feels for good measure.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

The last thing Jason expected when he came out of the shower after patrol, exhausted and ready to fall into bed, was Dick in his bedroom, leaning back against his window with a hand clamped around his calf, which was leaking blood steadily onto Jason's floor.

"What the hell happened to _you?_ " Jason blurted out, his hand falling from the towel around his neck that he'd been drying his hair with.

"Hi," Dick said weakly. "Got shot a little bit."

"Jesus christ, why didn't you go to B or something?" But Jason was already going over to him and wrapping an arm around his waist, pulling Dick's free arm over his shoulders and starting to help him to the bathroom.

"Was nearby," Dick got out before gasping in pain as he jostled his leg. " _Fuck_. Don't think I could've gotten all the way to the Cave."

"He has the Batmobile, idiot, he would've picked you up."

Dick was silent for a moment. "I'm going to be honest, I've lost a lot of blood and that did not occur to me. You should be nice to me, I've been shot."

Jason snorted and helped him to sit down on top of the toilet before hastily rummaging under his sink for the medical supplies. "Alright you big baby, what's the damage?"

"Fuck you, _you_ try being shot right now," Dick snapped back. And then, "It went all the way through, it should be easy to stitch up."

"Good." Jason opened a fresh suture needle and a sachet of surgical thread, and threaded the needle, setting it back in the packaging before uncapping the iodine and soaking a gauze pad with it. "Come on, you gotta take your hand away."

Dick reluctantly unclenched his hand from his calf, and the blood immediately started running down his leg faster. Jason helped him roll up the leg of his suit and then swiped over the whole area with the iodine as best he could on both sides before deciding to just get stitching.

He got both sides closed up fairly quickly and neatly, if he did say so himself, and soaked another gauze pad in iodine, cleaning over the area again, finally clearing it of blood.

"Nice work," Dick said, startling Jason out of his head — he'd gotten so focused on the steady rhythm of the stitching and cleaning that he'd entered a quiet, sort of meditative state. Dick tilted his leg to the side to get a better look at the stiches. "Thanks."

"No problem." Jason taped a clean gauze pad over the wound on each side of his leg. "You're lucky it missed the bone and didn't break your leg."

"Well I _did_ get shot, so I'm not sure I'm _that_ lucky."

Jason recapped the iodine and started gathering up the trash. "Really milking the sympathy on that one."

"I think it's deserved."

Jason tossed the trash and started putting the medical supplies away.

"Hey…" Dick spoke up again. "Can I crash here tonight? I don't think I'm up to making it all the way to one of my safehouses."

Jason looked up, fulling intending to say, 'Well suck it up, big bird — I patched you up and let you bleed all over my floors, that's my limit of good deeds for the night,' but then he made the fatal mistake of looking into Dick's big, pretty, pleading, puppy dog eyes and his mouth wound up saying, "Fine." before he even gave it permission to speak. Fuck, shit, god _dammit_.

Dick beamed at him.

"Thanks Jay," he said warmly. "Can I use your shower?"

"Uh, yeah, just...hold on." Jason got up from where he was crouched on the floor and got the cling film from the kitchen, bringing it back and wrapping it tightly around Dick's leg and sealing all the edges with medical tape so the wounds wouldn't get wet.

"Thanks," Dick said again.

"Yeah. Lemme, uh, get you something to wear."

He grabbed Dick a pair of boxers and a t-shirt like he was wearing and set them on the side of the sink since Dick seemed to be rather busy trying to pull his boot off without pulling on his stitches. Jason closed the door behind himself and went to go clean up the blood all over his floors.

He had barely been settled into bed for five minutes when his bedroom door cracked open.

"Why are you in here?" He demanded tiredly.

"To sleep?"

" _Couch_." It came out in an exasperated sigh.

"I'm an invalid, Jason. You wouldn't make me sleep on the couch, would you?"

"I think the fuck I would."

"Oh come on, nobody's ever made me sleep on the _couch_."

"Yeah, I _bet_ they haven't," Jason muttered. Everybody else had probably been trying to get into his pants.

" _Please_ , Jay? Please? I won't bother you anymore after this, I swear. I'll even make breakfast."

Fuck. Jason couldn't even see the stupid puppy dog eyes, but he could _hear_ them. Oh, he was weak, weak, _weak_. "Oh for fuck's sake, shut up, shut _up;_ _fine_." He huffily pulled the covers aside. "And don't you _dare_ try to make breakfast, that's a fucking threat coming from you, I don't want to have to put out a fire tomorrow."

Dick closed the door and limped over to the bed, sliding in beside him, and Jason scooted over a bit to give him more room. 

"Thanks, I knew you weren't heartless." Dick settled in with a satisfied sigh.

Jason just gave a noncommittal grunt.

It was only a few minutes before Dick's breaths evened out slow and deep in sleep and Jason was left staring up at the ceiling thinking about his stupid life decisions. 

Or, well, he was stewing on his stupid life decisions right up until Dick rolled over right onto his chest and threw an arm over him and Jason's brain fuzzed out for a few seconds. _Of course_ Dick was a fucking cuddler in his sleep. How did Jason always end up getting himself into these situations?

Dick's hand curled lightly over his chest and he gave a small sigh, turning his face further into Jason's chest. Fuck, fuck, fuck, _fuck_ , what was Jason supposed to do? It would be an asshole move to wake him up, wouldn't it? Jason scowled at the ceiling and resigned himself to his fate of being a living plushie.

• ◇ •

Jason awoke to Dick gently pushing away from his chest and sitting up, making Jason's traitorous arm — which had apparently wrapped around Dick's waist in his sleep — fall back to the bed.

"Good morning." Dick smiled down at him, apparently entirely unbothered and unsurprised by the cuddling.

"Hnn," Jason grunted. He needed his morning tea.

Dick ran a hand through his hair, yawning, and Jason had to look away. Utterly unfair that someone could look so fucking good when they'd just woken up — did Dick have to be perfect at fucking _everything?_ Jason hadn't even known _waking up_ was a thing you could win at, but leave it to Dick to find a way. It was fucking obnoxious is what it was. He could've at least had a stupid crease in his face from Jason's shirt or something, but _no_. Knowing him, even if he _did_ , he'd probably manage to pull it off anyway, the bastard.

Jason got out of bed, leaving Dick to be perfect by himself or whatever the hell it was he did, and headed to the kitchen.

He made himself a nice, strong cup of tea and leaned back against the counter, closing his eyes and taking a sip. When he opened his eyes, Dick was right there, sitting on the counter across from him, casual as anything. Jason didn't jump, but it was a near thing. Fucking bats — too damn quick and stealthy for their own good, apparently even with a bullet wound in their leg.

Jason just let a slow breath out. Bitching at him about it would probably just encourage him. And it was really too early for that much talking anyway. Ugh. He turned away and set down his tea, opening the fridge and pulling out a carton of eggs. He held them up until Dick answered his unvoiced question.

"Oh. Sunny side up."

Jason pulled a medium pan from the hook on the wall over the stove, turning the burner on, pouring some olive oil into the pan, and cracking four eggs into it. He turned away to bin the eggshells and wash his hands, and opened the fridge again, tossing a loaf of bread onto Dick's lap. 

Dick blinked down at it, and then looked up at Jason, apparently lost. 

Jason gave him a look that told him exactly what he thought of his intelligence and nodded to the toaster on the counter beside Dick, before returning to the stove.

Dick began to chatter aimlessly to Jason as he started the toast, swinging his legs back and forth over the side of the counter as he talked, and Jason found that it was surprisingly relaxing, the endless stream of chatter without expectation of reply as he sipped his tea and intermittently poked at the eggs with a spatula, turning his own eggs over easy.

Dick's chatter suddenly cut off with a thump and a, "— _Fuck!_ " Jason turned around to see Dick clutching his leg where he'd been shot. "God _damn_ , oh fuck me sideways that hurts."

"What'd you do?" Jason finally asked, voice still scratchy from sleep.

"Smacked it on the counter like an idiot," Dick said, his voice strained.

Jason turned the burner off and put the spatula down — the eggs were about done anyway, they'd finish cooking on their own — and grabbed Dick's foot, stretching his leg out. Dick loosened his hold on his leg and Jason brushed his hands aside, picking carefully at the tape and pulling back the gauze pad to check that Dick hadn't fucked up the stitches. The first side was fine and he pressed the tape back down, turning his leg over and looking at the other side. It was a little irritated, but the stitches were fine, and he pressed the tape back down on that one too.

He started to release Dick's foot, when—

"Not gonna kiss it all better?"

He rolled his eyes. He knew Dick was just fucking with him, but some impulse in him made him lean down and press a kiss to Dick's shin before releasing his foot. "Happy?"

When he looked up, Dick had the biggest Cheshire grin on his face he'd ever seen. "Thrilled."

The toast popped out of the toaster.

They ate, and then Jason washed the dishes while Dick dried, all while Dick carried on a conversation all by himself, which Jason thought he should find annoying, but really wasn't.

"So can I borrow some clothes to go home in?"

Jason sighed, but he couldn't very well refuse, since all Dick had was his Nightwing suit.

He was very _not_ bitter when Dick came out of the bathroom wearing Jason's clothes that didn't even fucking _fit him_ better than Jason did. Not bitter at all. Not even a little.

Dick pulled him into a hug, because of course he fucking did, because Jason couldn't apparently be let to forget that asleep or awake, Dick Grayson was a fucking _cuddler_. "Thanks for everything, Little Wing, you're the best."

And then Dick walked out of his front door and Jason tried not to examine the part of himself that kind of maybe wished he would stay.

• ◇ •

Dick ended up going to the Batcave instead of home. It wasn't that he didn't trust Jason's medical care, it was just that he liked to have Alfred look things over, just in case.

Tim was the only one in the Cave when he arrived.

"Hey, what are you still doing here?" Dick asked. "Go to sleep."

Tim turned around and then stared at him for a moment. "Did you get laid?"

Dick paused on his way to the stairs. " _What?_ "

"Those aren't your clothes and you're limping a little."

"No— I didn't— god, mind your business."

"And you have that stupid look on your face."

"I don't have _any_ look on my face!"

Tim spun himself slowly in his chair. "You do. You have a big, stupid, satisfied grin."

Dick forced his face into a frown. "I didn't get laid. I got shot."

"And you're...happy about it? Suddenly into masochism?"

"Jason was nice to me, okay? Can I not be pleasantly surprised? He stitched me up and let me spend the night."

Tim raised his eyebrows. 

"He even _hugged me_ , Tim."

"Oh no," Tim said, pulling out his phone. "Whatever that thing is, it's not Jason."

"Okay, okay, so I hugged him and he didn't outright tell me to fuck off, but that still counts."

Tim lowered his phone. "Still suspicious territory, but I'll accept it."

"I'm telling you, he was so nice! But in a very Jason way, that was no imposter."

"Hmm. And you look like your birthday has come early because…?"

"I can't appreciate this?"

Tim paused. "You can," he said eventually. "You just seem a little…" he trailed off. "Oh no, do you have the hots for _Jay?_ "

"No? I was just pleasantly surprised that he actually stitched me up and didn't just kick me out on my ass, bullet wound and all." And that he'd let him use his shower. And sleep in his bed. And cuddle him. And he'd made him breakfast. And kissed Dick's leg all better. And let Dick borrow his clothes. And hug him. Okay, put together all like that, it _did_ sound a little homoerotic. 

That didn't actually _mean_ anything though, and Dick would surely _know_ if he was actually into Jason, right? _Right?_

He turned away and headed up the stairs. The idea that he would be _into_ Jason in that way was ridiculous — Jason who had stitched him up with utter concentration and a slight squint around his pretty aquamarine eyes, who had looked so soft and sweet in that spare moment just before he'd woken up that Dick had found himself wishing he could see him like that more often, who had rolled his eyes but still kissed Dick's leg better which had made Dick's heart beat just a little faster— Dick's foot paused on the stairs. Oh _no_. Shit. He _was_ into Jason that way.

He was definitely not telling Tim.


	2. Chapter 2

Jason had no idea what he was doing, showing up at Dick's place like a lost puppy. To be honest, he didn't even have an excuse prepared. He didn't even have an excuse for _himself_.

The thing was...the thing was, he just kind of found himself... _missing_ Dick, for lack of a better word, since he'd stayed over that night at Jason's place.

He had half a mind to bolt while he still could.

Before he could cut and run, though, Dick opened the door.

"Jay!" he said, his face breaking into a bright smile. And then. "Oh yeah, shit, I forgot to give you back your clothes. Come in, I'll get them."

Right. He apparently didn't need to worry about having an excuse to come over when Dick would find one for him.

Dick came back with the clothes. "I washed them for you."

"Thanks."

"Hey," Dick said, before he could even turn to go. "Do you wanna stay? I just ordered pizza and I was gonna watch a movie, but that's, uhh, fucking boring by myself."

Somehow Jason found himself saying, "Uh, okay," and letting himself be led to the couch.

And that was how he ended up later in the evening staring blankly at the TV, not processing a goddamn thing happening on the screen while Dick slept on his shoulder, curled tightly against his side.

How he kept becoming Dick's pillow, he did not know, but if this was gonna become a _thing_ , he would— he would...probably continue to let it happen. Dick looked comfortable, okay? It was probably some sort of sin to needlessly wake him up.

Dick's phone rang.

"Uh?" Dick said hazily. "Shit." He leaned forward and snatched the phone off of the coffee table. "What?" He asked into the phone with a long sigh, settling back against Jason and laying his head back on his shoulder, closing his eyes again.

Jason couldn't hear what was being said on the other side of the phone, but Dick responded, "I dozed off watching a movie. I have somebody over right now."

There was a pause as the other person spoke before Dick opened his eyes and peeked up at Jason. "Uh...I don't think so? I mean I'd be down, but uh...no probably not."

This time there was barely a pause before Dick was saying, "I resent the implications of that wording."

"Oh fuck off — what did you even call me for? I know it wasn't this."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Just let me know exactly when closer to. Now can I—" there was a pause and then Dick snorted. "Exactly. That. Love you, talk to you later."

Dick hung up the phone and tossed it to the couch beside himself before worming his hand between Jason's arm and his chest to curl around his bicep. "What'd I miss while I was asleep?"

Jason tried to think of the movie and what the hell had been happening on the screen, tried to think of anything at all besides Dick's hand around his arm, Dick's cheek resting on his shoulder, Dick's hair brushing his neck, Dick's body, warm and soft, pressed up against his side, anything besides just Dick, Dick, _Dick_. And he came up utterly blank.

"Uh. You didn't miss much. This movie kind of sucks," he muttered. To be fair, that totally _could_ have been true, Jason just had no fucking idea.

Dick just laughed. "Okay, well in that case I'm going back to sleep."

• ◇ •

Dick couldn't have been more ecstatic when Jason had come to _him_ a few days after his realization and subsequent days of...well, _plotting_ just sounded _nefarious_ , didn't it?

Dick was _not_ plotting. He just...had plans. Which involved seeing Jason as often as possible. He wasn't planning to... _seduce_ Jason, that also sounded so nefarious, just, well, he'd realized he was _into_ Jason, and Jason just kind of barely tolerated him, so he was going to spend an awful lot of time enjoying his company and let the whole 'proximity breeds affection' idea do the rest of the work. He wasn't necessarily expecting it to work to the extent that Jason would actually return his feelings, he just wanted Jason to actually _like_ him. But he definitely wouldn't complain if it _did_ end up working that well. Just. On the off chance. ~~Not that he was hoping for that or anything.~~

His joy when Jason showed up was a little dulled when he realized that Jason had just come to get his clothes back, but Dick was not one for giving up and he knew how to think on his feet. Honestly, he'd thought it might take a bit of pleading to get Jason to agree to stay — which he was _absolutely_ prepared to do — but his earlier delight had quickly been rekindled when Jason had immediately (if a bit hesitantly) agreed.

To be clear, Dick was not prepared to stoop to pleading because he was _desperate_ — no no no, far from it — but he had _plans_ , and he'd be damned if a silly thing like his pride was going to stop him from getting what he wanted.

And he considered himself pretty successful with getting what he wanted when he managed to curl up against Jason's side with no complaints. He hadn't intended to doze off, but Jason was just so warm and comfortable and before Dick had even realized he'd fallen asleep, his eyes were snapping open to the sound of his phone ringing. Because of _course_ somebody had to interrupt. _Ugh_.

"Shit." He grabbed his phone and settled back into his cozy spot, shutting his eyes again as he picked up. "What?" He asked, a little more peevishly than whoever it was really deserved.

"Hey," came Wally's voice through the phone. "Am I interrupting something?"

Dick immediately felt bad. Of course Wally wasn't _trying_ to interrupt. "I dozed off watching a movie. I have somebody over right now."

"Oh yeah? Like a date?"

Dick tried to peek subtly up at Jason. "Uh...I don't think so? I mean I'd be down, but uh...no probably not."

Wally sighed. "Oh Dickie, why do you do this to yourself?"

"I resent the implications of that wording."

"It's true, you just go handing your heart to people and then they break it without even realizing they were holding it."

Ouch okay Wally knew him way too well. "Oh fuck off — what did you even call me for? I know it wasn't this."

"Just wanted to see if you were down to have dinner with me, Donna, and Garth the last weekend of the month?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Just let me know exactly when closer to. Now can I—"

"Get back to your Olympic level pining? Your emotional masochism?"

Dick snorted. "Exactly. That. Love you, talk to you later." He hung up and tossed the phone to the couch beside himself before as casually as possible worming his hand between Jason's arm and his chest to curl posessively around his bicep. Jason didn't react. Nice. "What'd I miss while I was asleep?"

Jason took a minute before answering. Shit, maybe he _was_ uncomfortable. 

"Uh. You didn't miss much. This movie kind of sucks," he eventually muttered.

Dick laughed, relieved. Oh, Jason just hadn't wanted to sound like a dick. Well he was used to Jason's bluntness, and he really didn't mind. "Okay, well in that case I'm going back to sleep."

Oh yes, Dick was liking his plans quite a lot if they had him cuddled up against Jason for a couple hours.


	3. Chapter 3

It was less than a week before Jason found himself at Dick's door again, once again completely without an excuse.

It didn't even seem to occur to Dick to ask _why_ he was there, though, he just smiled at him like Jason had made his whole day just by showing up and invited him in, asking what he wanted on his half of the pizza.

Jason was briefly taken-aback by the unhesitating, open welcome, but he followed Dick inside.

He felt like he should have been more surprised an hour later when he ended up once again stuck with a sleeping Dick on his shoulder. Instead he was...distressingly pleased.

Oh. _Oh_.

Oh no. No no no. That did not bode well. Jason did not like these thoughts at all. He did not like them one bit. 

Because a certain idea was starting to take shape in his head, that maybe this, this...excessive _admiration_ , and all this wanting to be around Dick maybe...meant something. Something like _oh shit I might've caught feelings_.

"What the fuck?" he said out loud. But no, seriously, _what the fuck_. What part of his brain had given _that shit_ the green light?! Jason had not at any point consented to having _feelings_ and he was starting to find that he maybe actually resented the whole idea, thank you very much.

Dick roused at his voice. "Y'okay?" he asked, picking up his head slightly.

"Yeah. Uh. Yeah." _No_. Not at all.

Dick settled his head back on Jason's shoulder. Fuck. _Fuck_. Now that Jason had opened his eyes, he could see that _yeah_ , he really wanted to run his fingers through Dick's hair and hold his hand and— _fuck_ , no, no this was _bad_ , very bad, very, very bad. It would be one thing if he'd just wanted to fuck Dick, then he could pretend he just needed to get it out of his system, but _no_ , this was fucking _soft shit_. Ugh. Jason Todd did _not_ hold hands!

Jason Todd very badly wanted to hold hands.

He closed his eyes. Ah fuck, what to do, what to do, what to _do_. His impulse was to bolt, and fuck if he had any other ideas right now, so hasta luego, feelings. Surely they wouldn't be able to catch him if he ran fast enough.

"I need to go," Jason blurted out.

Dick picked up his head again, looking soft and sleepy ~~and gorgeous~~ , and it made Jason's head spin a little. "What? But you're so comfy," he whined, leaning heavily against him.

Oh, murderer! _Murderer!_ This man had blood on his hands! Jason's blood! He was going to fucking kill him at this rate — a slow, slow, painful death.

"Yeah, um, it's getting late, so...gotta go."

"Okay, let me walk you out then," Dick shifted away.

Jason stood, following Dick to the door.

"Okay, well—" he started, only to cut himself off as Dick hugged him. _Goddamned cuddler_. ~~Fuck if he didn't feel good in Jason's arms, though.~~

"We should do this again sometime," Dick said.

"Yeah, sure." Like hell. Nice try, feelings — they wouldn't be catching him that easily.

Jason let himself out.

• ◇ •

Dick's plans were working better than he'd even hoped. And then they weren't.

Jason had come to him once again before Dick had even had the chance to take matters into his own hands, and he'd once again let Dick cuddle up against him without complaint, but then out of nowhere something had seemed to spook him.

When he'd excused himself hastily, Dick had been confused, but thought maybe it wasn't important, but then Jason just hadn't shown up again. Dick had given him _two weeks_ now and he hadn't seen hide or hair of him. Which meant it was time for Dick to take matters into his own hands.


	4. Chapter 4

Jason was doing a _real_ good job at running from his feelings — amazing, even — right up until he wasn't. That moment was right about when Dick plopped down on the fire escape beside him where he was smoking a cigarette during patrol, and passed him a cup of coffee.

"What the fuck are you doing down in Crime Alley?" Jason asked. He had intended for it to come out as more of a demanding growl, but it...did not.

Dick just shrugged, taking a sip of his own coffee.

"This poisoned?"

Dick gave him an unamused look. "I was trying to be _nice_."

" _Why?_ "

"Do I need a reason?"

Jason took a sip of the coffee. Well it was at least a tasteless poison if it was in there. Good — anything else and he'd just be disappointed. No hit to the ego like not even being worth a _sneaky_ poisoning. "Yes."

Dick sighed heavily. "Fine. Think of it as a very belated thank you. Or an 'I'm sorry for bleeding all over your floors'."

"Hmm." Jason took another sip of his coffee and flicked the ash off the end of his cigarette, staring down into the damp alley below them. It was really best to not look directly at Dick, even in the dark, even with his mask on, just for the sake of Jason's sanity.

Dick shifted and leaned back on one hand, and his shoulder pressed against Jason's. Oh lovely. Good to know that it was Dick and/or the universe's plan to just torture Jason to death now. Love that. Nice.

Jason took another drag of his cigarette.

"That's a really nasty habit, you know, there's a reason they're called cancer sticks."

Jason turned to him, leaning close, and blew the smoke directly into his face. "The Pit, dipshit; I can do whatever I want."

Instead of wrinkling his nose and flinching back like Jason thought he would, it almost looked for a second like Dick had opened his mouth and breathed deeper, but that— no, that _definitely_ couldn't be right. The fucking dark had to be playing tricks on Jason's eyes or something.

Weird.

"Well I should get back to patrol," he said, taking one last drag of his cigarette and stubbing out the butt against the metal grating beside his boot.

"Oh. Right, sure," Dick said, sounding distracted. "Catch you later, I guess."

Not if Jason could help it.

He took another gulp of his coffee, grabbed his helmet, and then headed down the fire escape.

• ◇ •

Dick sat there on the fire escape for a long time, letting his heart rate return to normal. Fuck, he'd really thought Jason was gonna kiss him for a split second there before he'd blown the smoke in his face.

That was just Dick's overactive imagination, though. Unfortunately, all signs pointed to Jason still barely tolerating him. Dick would really have to try to fix that.


	5. Chapter 5

The next time Dick showed up, to say Jason had not been expecting him would have been an understatement.

Jason whirled around and ripped the earbuds out of his ears as soon as he saw the window slide open out of the corner of his eye.

"What the fuck are you doing here? Go somewhere else if you got shot again," he said before he could even think.

Dick was grinning. "No, I didn't get shot, I just wanted to stop by. Whatcha doing there?"

Jason concentrated very hard on not blushing. Dick looked way too amused not to know exactly what he had been doing. "Practising," he said vaguely.

"Mhm," Dick said, looking like he was trying not to laugh. "Guess that explains the shady new hire at Gino's I was gonna follow up on."

Jason scowled. "Stay away from Gino's, that's my case. If I've gotta do the legwork, I'm not letting someone else come in and steal my hard earned leads from under my nose."

Dick laughed, sitting against the windowsill. "Well I can't promise I might not decide to pop in and see what's playing, so to speak, but I'll leave your case alone."

This time Jason couldn't help the blush that spread over his cheeks. "I swear to god, Dick. Do not fucking show up at the strip club I'm working." 

Stripping wasn't so hard as long as it felt _anonymous_ , but fuck, when there were people there that _knew you?_ That made it a thousand times harder. Maybe if it was someone like Roy or Kory who would probably jokingly catcall him and they could all laugh about it later, but _Dick?_ He didn't know if he could handle that level of embarrassment.

It wasn't that he was self-conscious, his body was clearly good enough to get hired, it was just the act. 

"Fine, fine. Do I get to see how this routine is coming along? What's the song?" Dick got up and snatched his phone from his pocket before Jason even realized what was happening, and unplugged the headphones. Genuwine's 'Pony' started playing and Dick pressed pause, wrinkling his nose. "Should've expected that. A classic. Brings back way too many memories of my own times undercover though."

Jason just stared at him for a moment.

"So are you gonna show me or what?" Dick asked.

"I'm not stripping for you, Dick!"

"No, but I think you were about to dance for me?"

"I'm pretty sure I wasn't?" He meant it to come out as an emphatic statement, but it turned out more like a question.

Dick flicked his eyes up to Jason's. "Aw, come on, _please?_ I'll show you mine if you show me yours." Holy shit, Jason didn't think that phrase was supposed to sound quite so... _salacious_ , but coming from Dick's tongue it was, it really fucking was. "You have a pole around here somewhere, right?"

Jason felt himself go a little lightheaded. "Closet," he said faintly.

Dick beamed. "Great! That's settled then."

Was it? Jason didn't remember agreeing. He was also having a little bit of difficulty thinking more than one word at a time.

Dick settled back on the windowsill and held up Jason's phone. "I'll just start it from the beginning then, shall I?"

Everything was a bit of a haze for Jason after that, but he learned that Dick knew how to work the damn pole like it was made for him.

Jason had made sure he wasn't physically drooling and that was really all that could be expected of him for the night. He knew his limits, and that was it. Jesus christ. He might have to think twice now before answering whether he'd ever had a religious experience. Did this count? Surely it had to. God, the things Dick did with his thighs were a religion of their own — fuck it, it totally counted.

Jason didn't know what the hell he'd said afterward, but Dick didn't act weirdly, so it must've been normal enough. Honestly, he was just impressed he'd gotten anything out of his mouth besides a slack-jawed, hazy-eyed, " _Gay_."

And then Dick was on his way with a wave and a dazzling smile, and Jason watched that perfect ass disappear through his window and down the fire escape.

Oh, Jason was so royally _fucked_. Hello again feelings. Long time no see.

• ◇ •

Dick's eyes had widened when he showed up outside Jason's window to see him with headphones in, doing a sinuous, ~~hot as fuck~~ body roll and sliding a hand up his stomach, and Dick had quickly decided he should probably make his presence known, no matter how much he would like to keep watching.

Luckily he'd somehow managed to convince Jason into performing for him — truly even _he_ didn't know how he'd managed to swing that — and he felt his mouth go dry as he watched Jason work his body, hands sliding over his clothes, just marking the movements where he would usually be pushing them aside for a teasing glimpse of skin.

Jason rolled down onto the floor, holding himself up on one arm and grinding his hips a few inches above the floor. _Holy shit_. Before he even knew what he was doing, Dick whistled, and Jason— Jason fucking _winked_ at him, a secret little smirk playing around his lips. ~~Good _god_ Dick had never wanted to fuck someone so bad.~~

By the time the song was over, Dick was feeling a little... _warm_. Well shit, he had to somehow upstage _that_ now. He got up and went to the closet, easily spotting the stripper pole leaned in the back corner.

It wasn't hard to set up and tighten to the floor and ceiling as Jason settled himself in his desk chair.

He kicked his shoes off then unbuttoned his pants and pushed them off.

"Why are you getting naked?" Jason sounded alarmed.

"I need grip, Jason. There's a reason people are already almost naked before they get up there. Skin has grip. Cloth slides and then you hit the floor." He took his shirt off, leaving him just in his tiny boxer briefs, which were basically what he'd worn when he'd stripped anyway, so perfect.

He kicked his clothes away and pulled at the pole, testing it, and then swung himself around it once. "Okay, you can play the music."

"Uh, okay, yeah." Jason said, sounding distracted.

Dick looked over just as Jason wrenched his eyes away, looking down at his phone with a blush. He'd barely seen, but it had looked like— had Jason been staring at his ass?

The music started and Dick put it out of his mind, spinning himself slowly around the pole and then sliding his foot forward and bending his body back.

He concentrated hard on making his routine as sexy as possible, occasionally catching glimpses of Jason's face, which frustratingly gave nothing away. It was just entirely blank, which made Dick push himself even harder, flipping himself upside down and wrapping his thighs around the pole, rolling his hips rhythmically and sliding one hand up over his stomach and chest before letting it down to touch the floor.

When he finally finished, he ran a nervous hand through his hair and cocked his hip, waiting for Jason's reaction.

"Who knew you'd be so good at that," he finally said. "I mean I was expecting good, but not...that."

"You thought it was good?" Dick asked. Oh thank god; it would really suck if he'd just seriously failed at being sexy after the show Jason gave.

"Yeah," Jason said, face still blank.

"Oh, it was kinda hard to tell what you thought."

"Oh." Jason's eyes swept over him and Dick could feel his gaze on his skin, heavy and dark. "Guess being an acrobat helps with that stuff."

Oh _boo_ , so they were just going to have _boring_ conversation after that, then. Ugh. Dick had _tried_ , really. 

He turned to grab his clothes and start getting redressed. "Yeah, it definitely does. It's like a distant cousin of the balance beam and the trapeze sorta."

"Hmm."

Dick finished getting dressed and smiled at him. "Well I guess I should probably get going then, patrol soon and all that."

"Yeah."

Dick gave him a wave and a final smile, and then climbed out the window.

Well that had certainly been an adventure and not what he'd been planning when he came over, but Dick thought he could probably count it toward bonding with Jason, right? Probably. Common ground and all that.


	6. Chapter 6

So… 

So maybe Jason had decided that running from his feelings wasn't really working.

Dick was apparently going to keep finding (and torturing. Sweet, sweet fucking torture) him, and Jason couldn't avoid him no matter how hard he ran. So he had a new plan of action: _ignore_ them.

Now, to the casual observer, _running from_ and _ignoring_ his feelings may sound quite similar, but in fact there was a crucial difference: Jason would allow himself to see Dick, but he would simply try not to think about his feelings while he was doing so. It was simple. Brilliant in its simplicity. Just ignore the feelings and get to hang out with Dickie as much as he wanted. Win-win.

Jason was nervous.

He...okay so he _wanted_ to have faith in his plan, he really did. It was brilliant and all that. But. He was worried. The thing about Dick was that he just kind of overwhelmed...everything. 

There was a reason the _ignore the feelings_ idea only extended to when he was actually _with_ Dick — Dick was so overwhelming that Jason stood no chance of ignoring them _all the time_. I mean, _fuck_ , he was never gonna get the images of Dick on that pole out of his head; he'd fucking _dreamed_ about it. Sweet, sweet torture.

But it would be fine. Hopefully. The plan would work. Jason just had to believe.

So the next time Dick showed up on Jason's patrol route, zipping down on a grappling line from the rooftop above him as Jason was leaned back against the wall of one of the many gross, damp alleyways Gotham had to offer, smoking, Jason didn't get upset. He internally greeted his pesky feelings and informed them none too politely that he would be ignoring them for the near future.

"Hey, it's been a real quiet night. For you too?" Dick asked.

"Mm."

Dick leaned against the wall on one forearm right next to Jason, facing him. "I'm bored and looking for trouble, you got any ideas?"

Jason snorted. "You're looking for trouble so you come to _me?_ Of course. Well sorry to disappoint, but I was gonna head in soon if it stays quiet."

Dick pouted. "Well that's no fun." He was quiet for a moment. "Wanna race to the GCPD? No grapples, just free running."

Jason took another drag of his cigarette and slowly let the smoke out. "What are we, fifteen?"

Dick grinned. "Sounds like somebody's just afraid they can't win."

"Hmm." Jason sized up the alley as he took another drag. It was narrow enough that he could jump and hold himself up on both sides, and there was an extra line of brick that stuck out about two thirds of the way up — a detail wrapped around from the store façades around the front — and Jason was betting he could reach the rooftop from there. He dropped his cigarette and crushed it under his boot. "Okay." He jumped.

He was on the roof and running in seconds, and he could hear Dick not far behind him yelling that he was a cheater.

"I'm opportunistic, baby!" he yelled back, flipping over a row of low chimneys and letting out an exhilarated laugh as he landed, stepping right back into a sprint.

They raced across the city, both of them letting out loud whoops as they leaped from rooftop to rooftop, and Dick, who had caught up to Jason, started to fall slightly behind again as he seemed unable to resist adding in unnecessary acrobatics. Jason had to admit it was incredibly impressive that he could do so many in a row and at such a high velocity, and then land them straight back into a sprint.

"Catch up, 'Wing! Thought I was supposed to be afraid I couldn't win!"

"Fuck you!" Dick yelled back, but it was followed by laughter and he pushed himself faster, drawing even with Jason just as they leaped onto the final rooftop before they reached the GCPD building.

They both sprinted all out across the final rooftop, and touched down on the roof of the GCPD at the same time, skidding to a stop halfway across the roof and both collapsing.

" _Fuck_ was that seriously a tie?" Jason complained through gasps for air.

"Since you're a _cheater_ and got a head start, I think that means _I_ won."

"Oh no no no." Jason held a hand up in Dick's vague direction. "We hit the rooftop at the same time, that means it's a tie."

Dick laughed. "You're a sore fucking loser, Hood."

Jason took off his helmet and pushed his sweaty hair back off of his forehead before turning his head and sticking his tongue out at Dick. "You wouldn't know because you've never seen me lose at anything."

Dick turned his head to stare up at the sky, his face still split into a huge grin, and threw one arm out, the back of his hand coming to rest on Jason's chest just over his rapidly beating heart. "Sure."

Jason's heart was supposed to be slowing down after the physical activity, but instead it sped as he watched Dick's grinning face silhouetted in the moonlight.

• ◇ •

Truly, Dick didn't care that Jason was a sore loser, he didn't care at all, he was just riding on the endorphin high he always seemed to have when he hung out with Jason nowadays. He threw his hand out, not caring that it was weird and probably annoying, he just wanted — _needed_ — to touch.

He stared up at the open night sky and let his hand rest heavily on the armour over Jason's chest, and let the butterflies filling his stomach and chest take over. What was the point in fighting them? Fuck, he was just really, _really_ into Jason Todd.


	7. Chapter 7

Since Jason was now firmly settled on his ignore the _feelings_ plan of action, he didn't feel guilty at all showing up at Dick's place with a large paper bag of groceries.

"Oh— hi Jay! What's that?"

"How much of your diet is pizza and cereal? Seventy percent? Eighty?" Jason asked as he stepped past Dick into the apartment.

Dick frowned. "What are you, Alfred?"

"That's what I thought you'd say," Jason said, going into the kitchen and setting the bag on the counter, starting to unpack the ingredients. "Fucking tragic. Which is why I'm making you dinner."

Dick settled on a stool at the bar that overlooked the kitchen and leaned his cheek on his fist. "You could've just said that; you didn't have to drag me."

Jason grinned, not looking up from the food he was still unpacking. "Well now where's the fun in that? Also you deserve it. You're gonna get fucking scurvy or something."

Dick rolled his eyes. "I eat fruit! Sometimes! And vegetables! Pizza and cereal are just easier."

"Mhmm." Jason said, setting aside the empty bag, pushing up his sleeves, and washing his hands. "You got a cutting board around here?"

Dick chattered away happily to him as he cooked, occasionally stopping to direct him toward some cooking implement or other, and Jason found himself relaxing into it. He put the pan in the oven for the chicken to finish cooking and lowered the flame under the couscous on the stove, and then picked up the wine he'd used to deglaze the pan and held it up toward Dick. Dick nodded, not pausing his gossip about Tim and Damian's latest petty argument, and Jason searched through the cupboards, smiling faintly, until he found two wine glasses.

Maybe he enjoyed Dick's endless chatter a little too much, but it was entertaining and just... _endearing_. For all that Jason would have thought it would be something he'd be annoyed by, he found himself actually interested — a little blown away by how much the man could _talk_ , sure — but fuck if Jason didn't still want to hear more. God, he wanted to hear Dick's opinion on _everything_. 

Jason poured them each a glass of wine and passed one to Dick, who took it with a smile, and then Jason took a sip of his own before abandoning it to make a spinach salad and a simple vinaigrette for it. After he was done, he checked the time on the couscous and the chicken, which both still had several minutes left, and leaned back against the counter with his wine to watch Dick as he talked. Oh he _really_ hoped his heart eyes weren't too obvious.

Dick took another sip of his wine. "I really can't believe that she actually still thinks that, seriously, there's no way she's that dense. She has to know. God that smells so fucking good, is it gonna be done soon?"

"Five minutes. Now why do you think Raven _has_ to know Kory's wanted to bang her forever? Maybe she _is_ that dense. _I_ didn't know and Kory's not usually tight-lipped about that stuff."

Dick blinked and then his face spread into a huge, dazzling smile. "You were actually listening?"

"Yeah...?"

"Normally people just tune me out. I know it has to get annoying."

Jason frowned. "It's not annoying. Keep talking." He turned to open the oven and check on the chicken.

"Oh, well, just if you saw it when they're together," he continued hesitantly, before starting to pick up steam back into his previous fast-paced chatter, "I mean it's subtle by _Kory_ standards, but like, by human standards it's the most obvious shit ever, I mean…" 

Dick continued on and on happily, and Jason gave a ~~totally not lovesick at all~~ sigh. God, he would _pay_ to listen to Dick talk for the rest of his fucking life.

• ◇ •

As soon as Jason left, Dick was calling Wally.

"Help, help, _help_ ," he said as soon as Wally picked up.

"What?"

"He fuckin'… I'm gonna die, Wally, this is how I die. This is actually how I die."

"What are you freaking out about now? Is it this person you've decided you're in love with?"

"I'm not in love with him, I'm just _into_ him, okay? And he just fucking came over and he— he made me dinner, like _nice_ dinner, like _with wine_ dinner and I'm so fucking confused."

Wally was quiet for a moment. "Sounds like he's trying to woo you."

"No, but no _that's the thing_ is I don't know, I can't fucking tell because he's just fucking _like this_. Like he just, he never tells me when he's coming over, he just shows up and it's usually very casual, but this time he just showed up with groceries and started lecturing me about how all I eat is cereal and pizza and how I'm gonna get scurvy — which I'm _not_ before you say anything — and so I, I don't fucking know. Like. He's just like this. I can't tell if this is just his regular grouchy way of being nice or— but, like, like this _should_ mean something though, like, he fucking wined and dined me!"

There was crunching on the other side of the phone as Wally presumably ate something. "Dude. I don't know what to tell you, I wasn't there. Maybe it does? Maybe not?"

Dick let out a deep, dramatic sigh. "Wally, Wally, he fucking _listened_ to me. I was doing that thing where there's nothing happening and I can't shut the fuck up even though I know I'm being annoying, and I know everybody just tunes me out at this point and I don't blame them, but I asked about dinner and he fucking redirected me back to what I'd been saying and he'd been _listening_ , and he told me I wasn't annoying."

" _Oookay_ well now that makes me think maybe he really is into you. No offence, but I think that might be necessary for that."

"You think?"

"Dude, I don't know the secrets of the universe. Maybe! Who is this guy anyway?"

Dick sighed again. "Jay."

" _Jay?!_ Like your— like _Jason Todd_ Jay?" Dick pulled the phone away from his ear slightly with the force of the exclamation.

"Yeah."

"Jesus, Dick, you sure know how to pick 'em. Couldn't pick someone uncomplicated, could you?"

"Well I didn't go out of my way to pick him! He just, I don't know, he's sweet."

"...Sweet." Wally repeated incredulously.

" _Yes!_ "

"That's a word I can confidently say I have never heard anyone use about Jason fucking Todd."

"Well maybe they should. He is!" Dick insisted.

"...Okay, Dickie. I'll, uh, I'll just take your word for it." 

Well he didn't have to sound _so_ disbelieving.

"Whatever. You think I should keep flirting with him?"

" _Keep_ flirting with him? What've you been doing?"

"Just...trying to get him to like me instead of just tolerating me. Proximity breeds affection and all that," he said cagily.

"Dick…"

"Just I've been making sure we've been seeing each other regularly for about two months. And I've managed to arrange some light cuddling a few times."

"When you say 'managed to arrange cuddling'—?" 

Dick cut him off, not wanting to answer since he knew Wally would probably judge him for essentially flinging himself at Jason repeatedly. "And I showed him one of my pole dance routines, but that was just once."

" _Dick!_ "

Well there was just no winning with Wally, was there? Judgy judgy.

"What? What would you have done?" Dick asked exasperatedly.

Wally started laughing. "You're so fucking horrible."

" _What?_ "

"Dick, if he's into you at all, you already have him in the bag and fucking _pole dancing_ for the poor schmuck probably qualified as attempted murder. If he's not, he's probably not gonna be at this point. I wasn't even interested in you and your stupid fucking pole dancing _still_ managed to be my bi awakening."

Dick laughed. "Yeah and I'm never gonna let you forget it. But also he's not you, what if it's not enough?"

"Dick. Trust me. You've been hanging out one on one for two months? If he's ever gonna be into you, he already is."

"Fine. Fine, okay." Dick sighed. "Thanks I guess."

"Mhm, love you, talk to you later."

"Love you, bye."

Dick hung up and turned his phone back and forth between his hands. He wasn't entirely sure if he believed Wally, but part of him was starting to feel a little hopeful that maybe Jason was interested in him too. Maybe.


	8. Chapter 8

The next time Dick found him, it was on patrol again and it was with a chili dog in either hand.

"Here, since you fed me last weekend." Dick held one of them out to him.

"Wow, didn't know you thought I was such a cheap date," Jason said, and oh shit _that_ definitely hadn't been run by his brain before it came out of his mouth, what the _fuck?_

Dick laughed, but his cheeks looked a bit red. "What can I say, you haven't been putting out."

Jason felt his face flame red and was suddenly very grateful for his helmet. "Didn't know that was how you played it."

"I don't, I don't really," Dick said, offering the chili dog again.

Jason gave his face a moment to return to its normal color before taking his helmet off, tucking it under his arm and taking the food. "Thanks." He took a bite. "Oh fuck yeah you got these from my favorite stand," he said with his mouth full, but Dick didn't comment on it.

"I know a thing or two," was all he said.

They sat on the edge of the roof, dangling their legs over the side, and ate in silence.

"Thanks," Jason said again. "I guess you're not half bad."

"I'll take that," Dick said, shoving the last of his chili dog in his mouth.

"I'm still not putting out though," Jason said, and _wow_ his mouth was really on a fucking roll tonight just talking without his approval, huh?

Dick choked rather dramatically until Jason whacked him on the back. "That's fine," he eventually squeaked, and Jason laughed so hard he fell off of the roof and had to shoot out a grappling line to catch himself.

Okay maybe he didn't mind his mouth getting him into trouble _that much_.

• ◇ •

Dick was in hell. Or no, was this purgatory?

Either way, it was fucking _impossible_ to tell if Jason was flirting with him, and he kind of just wanted to bang his head repeatedly against a wall. ~~Or bang Jason.~~ Or hang out with Jason some more, because he hated himself. No, fuck it, confusing signals or not, it wasn't self-hate, Jason was just really nice to be around. 

It would really fucking help if Dick could tell when he was being serious or not, though.


	9. Chapter 9

A few days later, Jason found himself seeking Dick out on patrol, and he found him zip-tying someone's hands behind their back in an alleyway.

"What'd this poor fucker do?" he asked, sauntering up to them and stopping by the person's head.

" _Poor_ ," Dick scoffed. "He tried to knife a little old lady when she wouldn't hand over her handbag. She whacked the shit out of him with it — it was a brick of a thing too."

Jason laughed. "Gotta love Gotham. She around here somewhere? Need walking home?"

"I don't think so," Dick said, standing up. "She just gave me the most judgemental look I have _ever_ received just for appearing, and then walked off."

Jason laughed again. "I like this lady. I may have to adopt me a grandma."

"Good luck with that. She'll probably just judge the fuck out of you too and close the door in your face."

"Maybe I like my ladies hard to get."

Dick snorted. "Gross."

"Don't worry, I like my men easy." Fucking hell, there went his mouth again. _What part of him had given that permission to come out?_

Dick's mouth dropped open. "Did you just call me _easy?_ "

Jason barked out a laugh, clapping a hand down on Dick's shoulder. "I think you just called _yourself_ easy, bucko. Awfully certain I'm talking about _you_ , aren't you?"

Dick blushed. "Fuck off, why are you around here?"

"Was lookin' for trouble. Think I found it. Want some coffee?"

"Yeah, mocha with extra whip and sprinkles?"

Jason snorted. "So just as sickeningly sweet as you, got it." And whoops, _that_ was definitely supposed to stay a thought. What was _wrong_ with his mouth these days? "Rooftop, dry cleaners at 8th and Park."

"'Kay."

Jason shot his grappling line up and went to go get their coffees.

• ◇ •

Dick watched him go, internally screaming a bit. Just a bit. Where in the _fuck_ did he stand with Jason? How much of that was a joke to him? Jason clearly wanted to spend time with him, but for non-flirty reasons, or _?????_

"Interesting. Red Hood and Nightwing. Who'da thought?"

Dick looked down. _Yikes_. Jason was really fucking with his head, because he'd completely forgotten about the mugger he'd taken down right there. "Christ," he said. "Mind your business."

He shot out his grappling line and swung up onto the roof, heading toward 8th and Park to meet Jason for the coffee. It was a little bit like a date. If he squinted. Maybe Jason would possibly not-so-seriously flirt with him some more.


	10. Chapter 10

Jason was _not_ sulking on his couch over his freshly broken ankle when Dick popped up in his living room window around three in the morning a week later. 

Once again, it was very important that it be understood that Jason was most definitely _not_ slumped down on his couch with his arms crossed and a pout on his face and his stupid ankle propped up on the coffee table with ice on it, watching Notting Hill. These were all things that were currently _not_ , under any circumstances, occurring. Just to be clear.

"Hey, you want some company? Ooh I love this movie! Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant! Oh shit what happened to your ankle?"

Jason patted the couch beside himself. "Fucking broke it."

"Aw fuck that sucks. Can I use your shower first?"

"Go ahead."

It wasn't more than fifteen minutes before Dick was flopping down onto the couch beside him in some of Jason's clothes, hair damp from the shower, and leaning his head back against Jason's arm, which was now stretched out over the back of the sofa.

Somehow it didn't take long before they were completely ignoring the movie in favor of talking to each other, not even looking at the screen anymore, and Jason's traitorous, misbehaving eyes kept finding their way back to Dick's lips as he spoke. God, he knew he was staring, but he couldn't _stop_ — and fuck, the way they shaped words was downright fucking sinful. They just looked so soft and plush and warm and Jason wanted to bite them, to lick them, to see what they tasted like, what they felt like against his own.

Shit, he kept _trying_ to redirect his thoughts to something else, _anything_ else, but Dick was just so fucking _overwhelming_. He was _right there_ , in Jason's clothes, smelling like Jason's soap, close enough for Jason to feel the heat coming off of him, to feel the weight of his head on Jason's arm, he was _so close_ —

Dick leaned forward and kissed him.

"What the fuck?" Jason blurted out as soon as Dick pulled back, mind going blank.

Dick blinked. "Oh. Sorry. Did I— did I read that wrong?"

"No."

Dick waited. "You're, uh, gonna need to give me a little more to work with there, Jay," he said eventually. "I'm not a mind reader."

"You didn't read it wrong," Jason said slowly, still a little stuck on the whole _holy shit, Dick just kissed me, what the fuck,_ _ **what the fuck**_ _, Dick is actually possibly into me too_ thing.

"Then what the fuck was the 'what the fuck' about?"

"I...wasn't expecting you to actually be...into me?"

Dick blinked. "Is that all?"

"Yeah…? You… Are you, though? Actually into me?"

"Yes? I literally just kissed you."

"Are you sure? Like...why?"

Dick just stared at him for a moment before he started to laugh softly. He cradled Jason's face in both of his hands, leaning in close until their noses were brushing. "I'm very sure," he murmured, and pressed a kiss just beside the bridge of Jason's nose. "I have plenty of reasons." He brushed a kiss high on his cheekbone. "Like how sweet and caring you are." He kissed his jaw. "Or how insanely hot you look." He kissed over one eyebrow. "But I think you'll just have to trust me for now." He kissed his cheek. "Think you can do that?" He pulled back to look him in the eyes.

Jason mutely nodded.

"Good," Dick whispered, and leaned in, tilting his head and sealing their lips together in a deep kiss.

Jason felt himself let out a small sound into the kiss, and then his hand was burying itself in Dick's still slightly-damp curls, clenching lightly and pulling him closer.

• ◇ •

Dick thought success had never tasted so fucking sweet. Success tasted like _Jason_. Oh god, Dick knew what Jason tasted like now. 

Fucking _awesome_.

"Can I stay over and cuddle again?" he eventually asked after several long minutes of kissing, pulling back slightly with one last peck.

Jason laughed. "Yes." He kissed Dick again and then grabbed the remote, turning off the TV. "Come on." He took the ice pack off of his ankle. "Could you put this back in the freezer for me?"

Dick took it back to the kitchen, and when he reemerged, Jason had his ankle brace on and was leaning against the wall with one hand as he hopped toward the bedroom, trying not to put weight on his broken ankle. Stubborn idiot — he could've just waited two seconds.

"Aw, Jay." Dick slid an arm around his waist and pulled Jason's arm over his shoulder, supporting some of his weight. "There you go."

"I had it," Jason said, but he allowed Dick to take his weight and help him into the bedroom.

"Sure, but you don't have to do everything the hard way. Just let people help you."

Jason sat down on the bed and scooted himself back, crawling under the covers. "I just _did_."

Yeah, only because Dick hadn't really given him a choice. Dick nobly restrained himself from rolling his eyes and gave Jason another kiss before going to turn the lights off and coming back to slide into bed beside him.

He curled up against Jason's side and kissed his shoulder, letting his hand rest over Jason's heart. "'Night."

"'Night," Jason murmured back, bringing his hand up to rest over Dick's on his chest and tangling their fingers together.

Fuck yeah, Dick liked success a _lot_. He could get used to this shit.


	11. Chapter 11

Waking up with Dick's entire weight on top of him and Dick's hair in his mouth and a wet patch soaking through the collar of his shirt that was probably Dick's drool probably shouldn't have made Jason as pleased as it did, but here he was, nonetheless, with a warm, glowy feeling in his chest and rebellious lips that were trying way too hard to smile way too early in the day. He ran a gentle hand up and down over Dick's back until he felt Dick turn his face further into the crook of his neck with a small groan.

"Morning," he felt more than heard Dick mumble after a moment.

"Mm." The hand on Dick's back moved up to run through the back of his hair, and he felt Dick press a kiss to his neck before turning his head so Jason could hear him better.

"'M I crushing you?" He made as if to roll off of Jason.

"Nn-nn." Jason wrapped both arms around Dick tightly to keep him there and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, and Dick relaxed again.

"You're really fucking comfortable, you know," he sighed, burying his face back in the crook of Jason's neck.

Eventually they got up and Dick helped Jason to the table.

"Eggs and toast?" Dick asked, heading back to the kitchen, but Jason caught his wrist.

"Oh no you don't," he said, voice rough with sleep. "No stove. I do _not_ trust you with an open flame without my supervision."

"I'm twenty six! I can handle some eggs!"

"Can you?"

" _Yes!_ " Dick gave him hurt puppy eyes, and Jason— _ohh_ those were a fucking _weapon_ that really wasn't playing fair.

Jason paused. "If you set anything on fire, I'm never letting you back into my kitchen," he finally said.

Dick's face broke into one of his dazzling, sunny grins, and that really wasn't playing fair either because Jason would say just about anything to get one of those. "I won't!" he chirped, disappearing into the kitchen.

As far as Jason was _aware_ , there were no unplanned fires — or if there were, they were put out quickly and quietly — and the eggs were only slightly rubbery. Okay, a _lot_ rubbery, but they were edible and they weren't burnt and Jason's kitchen was still standing and (as far as he knew) unscorched, so Jason was counting it as a success.

Dick took the dishes, telling Jason to stay put and not fuck up his ankle. Jason listened to Dick chatter away as he did the dishes until he cut off with an, " _Uh-oh_." 

Jason felt a deep sense of foreboding for all of half a second before there was the sound of something loudly shattering. He closed his eyes and tipped his head back against the back of his chair. Couldn't win 'em all — that was probably the universe handing out its due disaster after the lack of fires.

"There's a broom in the closet next to the bathroom."

"Ah, thanks!"

There was some clinking as Dick put the bigger pieces in the trash. A suspicious amount of clinking. A _very_ suspicious amount of clinking. How many fucking dishes did Dick just drop on his fucking floor? Jason was going to have to go shopping tomorrow, wasn't he. He could feel it in his bones.

Dick swept up the mess quickly and then brought out an ice pack and helped Jason to the couch.

They decided to watch a movie, settling in leaned against each other and holding hands much to Jason's contentment, and Jason behaved, keeping his ankle elevated with the ice on it until about an hour and a half in, when Dick had gotten up to go to the bathroom. The ice pack was completely room temperature by this point, and so Jason decided to get up and hop his way to the kitchen to get more ice. It was in the name of ankle _care_ , okay.

He got to the freezer and switched out the ice pack for a new one, and turned to leave before seeing the cabinets where he kept his dishes. Couldn't hurt to check what was missing.

Jason hopped the couple feet over and opened the cabinet with the plates and bowls. He blinked blankly at it for a moment and then started laughing. There were no plates. Every single one of his plates was gone. What the hell had been going on in Dick's head that he'd decided he needed to take out all the plates, Jason had no fucking idea, but now he couldn't stop laughing. There was just something so hysterically funny about Dick shattering _all_ of his plates.

He heard Dick come into the kitchen behind him.

"Oh yeah, uh, sorry."

" _How?_ " Jason asked, still laughing.

"I had the clean ones in my hand and I took the rest out to stack them on top and then the whole pile overbalanced."

"Why would you put the clean ones on the _bottom?_ "

"You don't rotate your dishes?" Dick asked, blinking up at him like it had never occurred to him that his way might not be the normal process of doing things.

" _Why?_ "

"So you don't always use the same ones."

Jason pulled Dick into a hug, his shoulders still slightly shaking as he chuckled, holding Dick close and pressing his cheek against the side of Dick's head, running his fingers through the back of his hair. "Never change, Dickie."

• ◇ •

Dick liked this domesticity thing, he could _definitely_ get used to this. Even if he felt like kind of an asshole for breaking all of Jason's plates. It had been an accident though, and at least Jason hadn't been mad about it.

He felt a little thrill as they got into bed together for the second night in a row — Dick just got to _do_ this now, he could just _have_ Jason — and turned to face him. "Do you wanna go on a date tomorrow? Let me woo you." He slid his hand up to rest on the dip of Jason's waist.

Jason opened his eyes, and Dick's breath caught. "You've already wooed me. But sure."

"Did you know your eyes glow in the dark?"

" _What?_ "

"Yeah, they're totally glowing."

"Oh. That...must be the Pit, I guess?" Jason shut his eyes. "Is it freaky?"

"No." Dick moved his hand up to stroke over his cheek. "You're not exactly the first person with glowing eyes I've dated. They're pretty."

Jason's eyes opened again in surprise. "Oh yeah. Kory. Do they look the same?"

"Not at all. Yours are bluer, and like a ring rather than the whole eye, it's just the iris. And they're...glowier. Softer, not as intense." He stroked his thumb over Jason's cheek. "Prettier," he decided.

A shy smile crept onto Jason's face. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Dick slid his fingers up through Jason's fringe, twisting the white streak around his fingers. "When are you gonna realize how pretty you are, zombie boy?"

Jason laughed. "Maybe never, circus boy. Why don't you keep telling me?"

Dick huffed out a laugh and kissed him softly on the lips. "You're gorgeous," he whispered, before kissing him again. "Handsome." Another kiss. "Stunning." And again. "Breathtaking." Yet another. "Dazzling—"

"Shh," Jason interrupted him. "Just kiss me. Extole my virtues later." He caught his lips in a slow kiss.

"I'll be holding you to that," Dick mumbled against his lips. "I'm gonna extole the fuck out of every damn virtue you have."

"Mhm good thing the list is short."

Dick nipped at his bottom lip and then pulled away slightly. "And this is exactly why I'm gonna do it. Your self esteem is tragic."

"Oh yes, keep those compliments coming."

"You're impossible."

"I try, baby. Now kiss me."

Dick was all too happy to comply.


	12. Chapter 12

After their date, it was like a dam broke.

They stumbled in the door — at Dick's place this time — laughing at some stupid joke Dick had made, and then suddenly they were kissing and Jason was dropping his stupid crutches and pulling Dick hard against him. And then they were _really_ kissing, the line of their bodies pressed tightly together from chest to hip, one of Dick's thighs pushed between Jason's, pressing him back against the door.

Jason lost time entirely, only able to think, _fuck_ , and _yes_ , and _more_ , just kissing and grinding against each other for however many endless, beautiful minutes or hours — days? Eternities? Jason didn't know and he didn't care. Until Dick pulled back.

Jason chased his mouth and Dick gave him another kiss before pulling away again, panting and red-lipped. "We should take this to the bedroom." He paused. "I mean. If you want?"

"Yes, oh god yes," Jason rushed out.

Dick shifted back, and Jason reluctantly let go of his hair and dropped the hand on his face, already mourning the loss. Fuck, they needed to be in the bedroom _now_ ; he couldn't stand not having Dick right up against him, all around him, now that he knew what it was like.

Jason put his arm over Dick's shoulders and started to limp toward Dick's bedroom. Dick pushed him gently down onto the bed when they got there and climbed into his lap, straddling him. He cradled Jason's face in his hands, starting to kiss him again before sliding his hands down his chest and then under his shirt, pushing it up. He broke away again for a moment and pulled Jason's shirt over his head, tossing it to the floor and kissing him once more before pulling back and taking off his own shirt, pushing Jason back against the bed with a hand on his chest.

"I think we should be naked," he said, leaning over him with a hand braced by either side of Jason's head.

Jason managed to get out a dazed, " _Yeah_ ," and then Dick was abandoning him again, but _oh_ Jason couldn't be too upset about it when Dick was kneeling between his legs and his hand was going straight for Jason's zipper, yanking his jeans down and off, and then rubbing a hand over his cock through his underwear.

"This good?"

Jason put his hand over Dick's, pressing it harder against him and grinding up against it.

"Mm you're big, aren't you?" Dick said, squeezing his hand. Jason gave a small moan and let up the pressure on Dick's hand, and Dick immediately moved to pull his underwear off. "Oh fuck, you are."

Jason laughed. "Don't flatter me, I'm already putting out."

"I'm not," Dick said, stroking over Jason's cock and staring at it.

Jason blushed. "Am I the only one getting naked here?"

"You're right. A horrible state of affairs I'll have to immediately fix," Dick said, standing up and stripping the rest of his clothes off.

Jason got all the way onto the bed the right way around and Dick immediately climbed on top of him, straddling his hips and grinding their cocks together as he leaned down to kiss him.

They got lost in kissing and frotting for a while until Jason started kissing down Dick's neck, and Dick reached over and pulled the drawer to his bedside table open, his hand pausing as he reached inside. "Do we need a condom?"

Jason pulled away from his neck. "I'm clean. I've gotten checked since I last had sex."

"Okay, awesome, me too. None is fine with you then?"

Jason nodded and skimmed his hands over Dick's hips.

Dick grabbed the lube and pushed the drawer shut. He opened the bottle and started to pour some onto his fingers, when Jason stopped him with a hand.

"Are you— How…" he started. "What are we doing?" he asked finally.

"Oh, uh, I'm— I was gonna ride you. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, can I open you up?"

Dick handed him the lube. "Go ahead."

Jason slicked his fingers up and then urged Dick up a bit so he could reach between his legs and press one finger into him. He pulled Dick's head down with his other hand and kissed him while he fingered him open.

When Dick finally, finally sank down on his cock, Jason's brain fuzzed out a bit because holy shit _holy shit_ , he was inside Dick Grayson, _the_ Dick Grayson — oh my god Dick Grayson was riding his cock — he was _fucking_ Dick Grayson. 

Dick rose up on his knees, thighs flexing under Jason's hands, and sank back down, rolling his hips, and then Jason couldn't overthink it anymore because it was all he could do to gasp out, " _Fuck yeah, baby_ ," and push his hips up to meet Dick's.

Dick rode him steadily, barely even panting, like he could do this all fucking night, and he did it with a fucking _smile_ on his face, and Jason— Jason just stared up at how fucking _gorgeous_ he was. How could one man be so _much_ , so fucking _perfect?_

"Oh, listen to you, Jay." Dick ran a hand over his cheek, cupping it. "You're so fucking beautiful," he murmured, leaning down to kiss him, and Jason's heart felt like it was about to beat straight out of his chest. God, nobody ever called him _beautiful_ , and it sounded almost comical coming from someone as devastatingly fucking _pretty_ as Dick, but— but _fuck_ , the way Dick had _said it_ , it was hard not to believe he meant it.

Dick slid his tongue against Jason's and sped his hips, kissing him hard before it slowly turned into just panting against each other's mouths.

" _Ohhh god, yeah, Jay_ ," Dick moaned.

All Jason could do was let out small groans and harsh breaths as he hitched his hips up to meet Dick's. He slid his hand between their bodies and started to jerk Dick off, and Dick let out a small cry.

" _Oh fuck_ , are you gonna come?" Dick panted.

Jason nodded. "Nngh— Can— Can I—" he cut off with a whine, grabbing Dick's hips and clinging for dear life.

"You can come in me."

Jason's back arched off the bed as he came with a long, throaty moan, his nails digging into Dick's hips, raking red lines down the sides of his thighs.

"Fuck, oh _god_ , that's so hot, you're so fucking sexy," Dick said, his voice a high whine as he jerked himself off quickly.

Jason managed to wrench his eyes open with a small moan to watch Dick, still riding the aftershocks.

"Oh fuck, your _eyes_." Dick came over Jason's stomach and chest with a sob, his head falling back.

Jason smoothed his hands up Dick's thighs, over his hips, his waist, and then back down, repeating it over and over until Dick came back to himself.

"Mmmh," Dick finally said, picking his head back up and looking down at Jason. "You okay?"

" _So much_ better than okay," Jason said, his eyes heavy-lidded. He stroked his thumbs across the marks he'd left on Dick's thighs. "Sorry, didn't mean to scratch you."

"No, it's okay, it's hot. I like it a little rough."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mhmm," Dick hummed, leaning forward to kiss Jason's lips once before burying his face in the crook of his neck and slumping forward onto his chest.

Jason's arms came up around his back, holding him tightly and stroking over his shoulder with his thumb.

After that night, the dam was smashed to smithereens and rest of the week passed in a haze of sex. And Jason _really_ couldn't find it in himself to regret it — in fact he was rather pleased with the way things were going. It was keeping him off his ankle mostly, so, like, in the name of health, really, this was the reasonable course of action. Okay maybe it was a bit excessive, but they were a new couple; they were allowed to fuck like bunnies for a while until the new shine wore off.

• ◇ •

Dick managed to keep his clothes on long enough before patrol to actually go to the Cave. It might not have sounded like much, but these past few days, that had been a _task_ , okay.

He was just going to the Cave to check in and ask Bruce a few questions about a case he'd been working that Dick thought might be related to one of his, however, when he got there Bruce was nowhere in sight, it was just Tim again.

"What are you doing here?"

Tim mumbled something unintelligible, not taking his eyes off the computer.

"When is the last time you slept?"

Tim waved his hand vaguely. "Ehhh."

"That's not a promising answer."

Tim finally looked over. "Oh it's you, I've been meaning to ask you some shit about this case because I'm pretty sure you've dealt with some of these exact people before but they wormed their way out of prison."

"You could've asked me earlier. You know, days before the sleep deprivation."

"Well I _did_ stop by," Tim said, "but you had Jay bent over the table and it, uh, did _not_ look like yoga."

Dick felt himself blush and covered his face with his hands.

"So much for not having the hots for him," Tim added.

Dick's shoulders began to shake as he fought to keep his laughter in. Oh this was _so_ not funny, it was fucking mortifying, but the way Tim had _said it_.

"What's so funny?"

As soon as Dick opened his mouth, his laughter came spilling out. "It's _not_ ," he said through his laughter. "It's not funny at _all_ and I'm going to be very embarrassed about this later, but— _like yoga_ — 'please—'" he laughed again, "'please move to dick in ass pose'." He collapsed into laughter.

Tim stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter as well. " _Dick in ass pose?_ " he wheezed.

They both completely lost it. Every time one of them would start to calm down, the other one would set them off again.

Bruce started to come down into the Cave several minutes in, got halfway down the stairs, paused, watching his two sons in hysterics, and then — apparently deciding he wanted nothing to do with whatever that was about — turned right back around and went back upstairs, which only made both of them laugh harder.

Eventually their laughter tapered off and they both sat there wheezing — Tim in the computer chair and Dick now on the floor.

"Yeah we've been together for about a week now," Dick said eventually. "I don't care if you tell other people, it's not a secret or anything. We're actually like _dating_ , we're not just hooking up."

"Oh. Congrats?"

Dick snorted. "Thanks." He was silent for a moment and picked at his thumb nail. "I, uh, realized you were right like...right after we talked. So guess you really did call it first."

"Huh," Tim said. "And Stephanie says I can't read people."

"Shove this in her face with a big fat 'told ya so'."

"I will." The monitor went black, going to sleep after such a long stretch of inactivity, and Tim turned back to it, shaking the mouse. "And I still need to talk to you about this case."

"Right. Ask away."


	13. Chapter 13

Jason was cruelly awoken at ten in the morning by Dick's JL communicator, and then Dick was saying something about aliens and pulling on his Nightwing suit and leaving out the window.

It took Jason a few more minutes to actually wake up all the way. Fuck. Dick was off in the middle of some alien invasion.

Jason heaved himself upright. Okay, okay. Well. Worrying wasn't really going to help anything, but he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep now. He grabbed his crutches and went out to Dick's living room, turning on the TV and switching it to a news station that was broadcasting live coverage of the attack, which was in Metropolis.

He left it playing in the background as he went to the kitchen and started to make himself breakfast.

After breakfast and dishes, the alien attack was still going strong. He'd seen a flash of Nightwing on the screen maybe ten minutes before and he'd looked fine, but Jason was still getting antsy, so he suited up, ditched the crutches, and headed to Metropolis on his motorcycle.

When he arrived, approaching downtown where the attack had been focused, he could only see three ships left in the sky, one of which Superman was tearing open. He stopped his bike at the edge of a park, watching as Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, and Batman fought some type of giant crab-looking things all the way on the other side.

It didn't take more than a few minutes for them to take them down, by which point all three of the ships left in the air had crashed down to earth.

The remaining members of the Justice League slowly all flew down or came from back between buildings to congregate at the end of the park, and after a few minutes, Superman flew over to the news cameras, and Jason heard him announce that the city was safe.

Jason drove his bike around the park toward the JL and he saw Dick spot him and pull away from his conversation with Bruce, coming over toward him.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Dick asked, and Jason heard Hal echo the question several feet away, looking over at Jason.

Jason took his helmet off, leaving him in just the domino. "You were fighting aliens." He looked Dick over for injuries, reaching out and running his hand from Dick's shoulder down to his elbow, and saw nothing obvious. Some cuts, some blood and dirt, some alien goo, but nothing that looked serious. "You okay?"

Dick sighed and rolled his eyes, but smiled, cocking his hip. "I'm fine, Hood. What are _you_ doing on that ankle, though, is the better question."

Jason made a noncommittal noise. "It's fine."

"I don't think so. Give me twenty minutes and we'll head home alright?" Dick tilted his chin up with a hand and then paused. "Can I kiss you?"

"Please," Jason breathed.

Dick leaned down and kissed him, and Jason vaguely registered someone asking, "When the hell did _that_ happen?!"

When Dick pulled back and Jason opened his eyes, it was to see Hal sourly handing Wally money. _Well_.

• ◇ •

"That's dirty money, you know," Dick chirped, coming up behind Wally in the Watchtower on his way to write up a quick preliminary report and then get back to Jason and go home. "Insider trading and all that."

Wally just laughed. "It's my due is what it is, for having to listen to your bullshit. _Pole dancing_ , honestly."

Dick blushed. "Well it worked, didn't it?"

Wally shook his head. "It did, but at what cost to the rest of us? You two are gonna be a terror together."

Dick grinned brightly. "Oh yeah, we're already making good progress on that front. Hey, did I tell you I accidentally shattered all of his plates like literally the first morning after we got together? And he still likes me? That's like, _commitment_."

Wally blinked at him and then burst out laughing. "You are a fucking _disaster_ and I'm so glad somebody loves you for it."

Dick felt his heart swell just thinking about the utter _softness_ Jason showed him even when he fucked up or was being annoying or too much or _whatever_ , and his grin grew impossibly wider. "Fuck yeah; it's _awesome_."


End file.
